Proverbs 12: 18
There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Words are so powerful! God's Words spoke the Universe into being. And our words can build up or tear down ourselves and others.
What we tell ourselves is the most important conversation we will have each day. Am I telling myself God's view of me, or the world's ideas? Am I living my life as God's dear child, or have I left myself vulnerable to the enemy's lies?
My words to others will reflect my acceptance or rejection of myself, and I know that my words in the past have been spoken rashly, resulting in harsh pronouncements, pushing away those I want to draw close.
Father, thank You for revealing this sin in my heart so I could confess and forsake it, and allow You to cleanse me of it. And I have been "careful to do" what You lead me to do, in considering my words before I speak them.
This process is taking me time to forsake utterly that rashness, and implementing the habit, the practice of using Your wisdom to consider how my words would affect the sensibilities of the hearers.
Please continue to lead me each day, Father, as I place my hand into Yours, and I know You will never let me go. Strengthen me to walk each step confidently and straight, not turning to the right hand or to the left, not wandering away or pulling back.
I need You, my dear Father! I am desperate for You, for Your strength and wisdom, for I have none in myself.
Let me see myself as You see me, Father; that I would also see others with Your eyes, seeing them with inestimable worth and preciousness. Then my words will encourage them to live their lives in a way that You would consider worthy to share in Your Kingdom and Glory (I Thessalonians 2:12).
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Matthew 22: 37-40
Jesus replied, "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the other commandments and all the demands of the Prophets are based on these two commandments."
It really is all about Love. God is Love, He loves us, He wants us to love Him back, and He wants us to love others as well as ourselves.
To love with genuine, true Love, not sentimentalism. Real Love is defined in First Corinthians chapter 13. Real Love desires the true best for the one loved, regardless of the cost to the one loving.
God gave us what was of ultimate cost to Himself--His only Son!
O my Father, teach me to love You the way You deserve to be loved. Teach me to love myself with an undefiled love based on the worth You have valued me at. Teach me to love others, seeing them with Your eyes, loving them with Your love, drawing them not to myself but to You.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
... I am the Lord ...
Repeated continually in:
Leviticus 20: 7;
21: 8, 12, 15, 23;
22: 2, 3, 8, 9, 16.
O my Father, again I am impressed with the Truth that we become like that, that we worship, dwell on, think about, spend time with.
You constantly remind us that You are the God we are to worship, You are the One Who meets all our needs, You are the Lord God Who rescues us from our troubles and our enemies--not any of the gods of any of the lands we are familiar with. We are not to observe any of the ways of this World, this society, this culture in which we live.
We are to know, dwell on, study, and apply in our daily lives, moment-to-moment, only Your ways, Your laws, Your will for us; to accomplish Your purposes according to Your plans for each of us, and Your great Plan of the Ages for all of us.
What You have begun in me You will perform and perfect in That Day when Christ Jesus returns!
Continue to mold me and shape me, form in me the character of Christ my Lord; make me into the person You created me to be.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Isaiah 45: 8
Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the the clouds pour down righteousness; let the Earth open up and salvation bear fruit, and righteousness spring up with it. I, the Lord, have created it.
Our God is Almighty God, Creator of everything that exists.
May He cause His righteousness to pour down from Heaven, to drip from the clouds like torrential rain, and the Earth to open up to receive this bounty from above, bringing all the lost sheep into the fold and waking up His church to bear the fruit of righteousness in our Nation from the grassroots up.
O my Lord God, restore us to the righteousness which our Founders based this Nation upon. Let us remember from what heights we have fallen and retun to You, the Shepherd of our souls.
Examine our hearts, O God, and show us our sins, our secret sins we have been cherishing, to acknowledge them and forsake them; to cleanse us, clean out all those old wounds, so we can heal.
And help us live our lives in Righteousness. Teach us how to promote Righteousness in the society in which we live. Flood us in Your Righteousness, O Lord!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Ephesians 6: 13-17
Therefore, take up the full armor of God ...
We need the full suit, every part, no piece can be left out, it must be complete.
Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth,
Your loins refers to your waist-to-knees portion of your body, to protect your most private and vulnerable parts; safeguarding your chastity and purity. The first step in putting on this armor.
and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
This covers your heart, to ensure that your heart is filled with right attitudes in order to protect your feelings and emotions.
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.
We must prepare ourselves to run with the Gospel that brings peace.
In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
This shield will catch and put out the flames of the logical and believable lies our enemy throws at us. Believing God shows us the deception of whatever doesn't agree with His Truth.
And take the helmet of salvation,
Our brain is our base of operations of our whole body, which must be surrounded by the protection of God's deliverance from all that falls short of His perfect ways.
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
This is our only offensive weapon, all the rest are defensive. Our sword is double-edged and razor-sharp, a very dangerous tool. We need to wield it very carefully, skillfully, and wisely. We need to train in it, regularly, to attain the precision of a brain-surgeon.
Jesus used the Word in response to the Tempter, and the Tempter also quoted Scripture. So we need the Holy Spirit's direction to out-wit our enemy as Jesus did.
O my Father, I pray for Your armor to gird me today, each day: the belt of Truth, breastplate of righteousness, boots of the Gospel, Your shield of faith and sword of the Spirit--the Word of God.
This armor is very strong and impenetrable, yet light of weight and resilient of movement; it fits me perfectly and comfortably, as it was custom-made by You for me.
Teach me Your ways, lead and guide me today into Your steps. Show me where You would have me go and what You would have me do concerning every circumstance and situation I will face each day.
I am yours, my Lord; mold me and shape me according to Your Plan to fulfill Your Purposes. And You will receive all the credit, all the glory forever; because You alone designed it all, planned how it would all work out, and are completing and finishing all Your pleasure in us all.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Ephesians 3: 16-21
That He would grant you,
as a grace gift.
according to the riches of His glory,
Not stingy, but very generously.
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
Like a super-power, but inside us, to do powerful things in our minds and hearts.
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
We believe Him, we put our faith in believing what He said, just as He said it, that He would never leave us or forsake us (John 14:18).
and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
Like a well-established tree planted in the ground that has a strong root system anchoring it; our love is that stabilizing force.
may be able to comprehend
To understand with our minds, to wrap our heads around it.
with all the saints
Everyone who has been saved by God, every member of His church.
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
The boundaries and shape.
to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
To know what is beyond our ability to know! That's how big His Love is!
that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
God is Love; for us to be filled up with God, with Love.
Now to Him Who is able to do
God is capable of and strong enough and willing to do whatever He decides to do.
far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think,
Way beyond what we ask, or even what we're able to imagine.
according to the power that works within us,
God's own power, in His Holy Spirit that lives right inside our spirits, deep inside each of us, working in us, on us, and through us.
to Him be the glory
He deserves all the credit, all the fame, all the popularity.
in the church
Among all the members of His body, each one of us, giving Him the credit.
and in Christ Jesus
He is the One Who is our Sacrifice, Who took our death upon Himself, His Blood washing us from every stain of sin--He gets the credit.
to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
As long as Mankind keeps producing more people, and on into Eternity itself.
O my Father, strengthen me, along with all Your saints, to comprehend the breadth, length, height, and depth of what You are doing in this World, according to Your Plan, to fulfill Your Purpose, for Your pleasure!
That we might know what surpasses knowledge: the Love of Christ! Thank You, and I praise You for doing for me, in me, on me, and through me exceedingly abundantly beyond all that I would ever ask, or even be able to think of; so that You will receive all the credit, all the glory, throughout all Time and Eternity!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Proverbs 4: 14-19
Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not proceed in the way of evil men.
Avoid it, do not pass by it; turn away from it and pass on.
For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; and they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.
For they eat the bread if wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.
Violence is intoxicating. I learned this when I researched the genocide that was perpetrated against the two tribes in Rwanda before I went there with a missionary group. The young men who were doing the killing were acting like they were drunk on the violence, and only later, long after the acts, did they realize the destruction their violence wrought.
I think that virtual violence is also addictive. Violent video games have entrapped so many of our young people.
O my Father, I pray for those who have been enslaved by the draw of these virtual games, that You would call them out of the darkness of their addiction into the glorious light of Your Love.
Just like I was addicted to the evil of my weakness when You found me, and showed me that Jesus took my place in death and gave me Your Life. That's when I realized that You loved me that much, and it broke my heart. That's when You released me from those chains and set me free.
Please, Father, find my loved one and show him Your Love, as You did for me. Lift him out of the morass of twisted thinking that has kept him captive for so long. Draw him to Yourself, Father, so his life will bring You glory, instead of ending in disgrace.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
